Jess Hutch.

Monday, April 23, 2007

idle doodle

Today while I was deep in thought I doodled a little Jess Hutch-y undersea scene.

Turns out, knitting four 20-inch-long arms and legs for a Big Toy doesn't exactly make for gripping blog writing. I hope I have something fun and/or interesting to show later this week! In the meantime, idle doodles will have to do.

"Idle doodles will have to do" - someone needs to write a Gilbert & Sullivan-style tune with that lyric. Please.

Monday, April 16, 2007

unpainted (arizona)*

Got some stuff on my mind, so I'm not posting much, but I am working on various projects. Including these here skinny legs, attached to another painted sewn toy (like the ghost I did a few weeks ago). I love how it looks, all gessoed up and ready for painting. It's quite stiff at this point, it almost feels like clay or some other hard sculpted medium.

These legs are quite skinny. Like pencil skinny. It took me quite a long time to turn them inside out - and I had to use tweezers, working them out bit by bit. But it's worth it really, I love how they look.

*"Raising Arizona" reference. I can't think of the word "unpainted" without putting "Arizona" after it. I am so damaged by popular culture.

Sunday, April 08, 2007

big body

OK, here's the Big Body, attached to the Big Head. Next up: big arms & legs. Sorry, Big Arms and Big Legs. The body is about 20 inches high, and somehow only took a skein and a half of Lamb's Pride. I'm still trying to figure that one out, it was like the loaves and the fishes or something.*

I just got a super swanky chenille bedspread on eBay for 10 bucks, I think I'm going to go celebrate. Woo!

Monday, April 02, 2007

robot postcard by mimi kirchner

For the last two years, ever since I found out that there were folks who made toys and blogged about it (and then promptly started my own toymaking blog), I've been repeatedly amazed and inspired by Mimi Kirchner. She makes extraordinary dolls. Their colors and textures are so beautiful - but it's really the faces that get me. Oh, the faces.

The robots she's been making for a while have been particularly inventive - she uses sewing notions and other little bits to suggest mechanisms, panels, etc. When I saw that she had created some 2D-ish (kind of 2.5D) postcard-sized pieces featuring mini versions of her robots, I had to snag one from her etsy shop. So snag one I did. Here 'tis. I love it. Thanks Mimi!

More toy fun to come this week, etc etc. Did I happen to mention that I'm making a Big Toy? And that this toy is very big? And that big things take a long time to make?